Boys Take A Wife, Daughters Are For Life
by Lolly4Holly
Summary: GSR. This was an original one shot of mine, but I've broken it down into three chapters. Sara's daughter is missing and she feels like the only person to blame is herself. Sara/Grissom. COMPLETE
1. Prologue

**Boys Take a Wife, Daughters are for life**

**Author:** Lolly4Holly

**Rated:** T

**Pairings:** GSR - pre Grissom and Sara

**Summary:** This was an original one shot of mine, but I've broken it down into three chapters. Sara's daughter is missing and she feels like the only person to blame is herself.

Hope you like it, please let me know what you think.

* * *

Sara sat on the edge of her sofa, keys in one hand and her phone in the other, ready to leave at a moment's notice. It wasn't like it was a big emergency. No, he was only forty five minutes late back. She knew that she was probably freaking out for no entire reason, but this was the first time that the father of her child had even taken an interest in their daughter and now he was over forty five minutes late bringing her back. He saw her once shortly after she was born, then moved away to San Francisco, which Sara actually preferred as he was well out of the way, so she could get on with her life.

When he turned up out of the blue years later, she knew there was going to be trouble, but she never expected him to be late bringing their daughter back. She hadn't prepared for this. She had his mobile number, but he wasn't picking up. She didn't know where he was living or working though, putting her more on edge as she had jumped straight into trusting him, when she knew more than anyone what people were like.

She thought about leaving the house to start a search party of places that they would go, but she worried that she might miss a call to her home phone or even them returning with big silly grins on their faces after she had freaked out about a mere few minutes. She glanced up at the clock again, realising it was a full hour now.

Sara started to nervously tap her keys against the arm of the sofa beside her, hoping they were stuck in traffic somewhere. She didn't even know where he had taken her daughter, so she couldn't start phoning round to see if anyone had recognised her six year old daughter with her ex that she barely even knew. She dated Bill for five or six months, before he called it off via a text message. She never wanted to see him again after that, but then she found out she was pregnant and there was no question about who the father was.

Hearing her front door rattle, Sara quickly jumped to her feet, hurrying round the corner, giving out a sigh as she saw the cat licking his paws. It wasn't even her cat. She had lost her cat last year and never bothered to block the cat flap in her door, so the neighbour's cat always helped himself to it. She grabbed him before he hid in the house somewhere, gently pushing him back through the cat flap.

"No... go home." She blocked him from trying to come back through. "Go on, shoo... Mr Cat." She didn't socialise with her neighbours, so she had no idea what he was even called. She held the flap shut for a few minutes, until the cat got the message and disappeared down the garden path. She climbed to her feet, watching out the window as cars drove by. It was usually a very quiet street, but it was just after five, so everyone was returning home after their long days at work.

She felt her heart sinking as they either drove past her house or stopped just before to pull into another drive. Not one of them stopped anywhere near her driveway and she had no idea what kind of car the man even drove. She usually paid attention to details like that. She had even loaded her child's booster seat into the back, but she hadn't taken any notice of the make or model, even the colour of the interior.

She could remember what her daughter was wearing though. Tiffany insisted on wearing one of her whitest dresses this morning, that only got mucked up at school as the first graders were having another art week that was hell on parents, having to wash all of their clothes. Sara put the dress straight into the wash, changing her daughter into a pink taffeta skirt with a California Beach t-shirt and a colour block cardigan. Tiffany had actually picked out the clothes, Sara just dressed her in them. She had never been a girly girl herself, but her daughter loved pink and everything and anything that was cute and girly.

Sara returned to her sofa, picking up her discarded phone and keys. She double checked her phone for any messages, deciding to try the number he had given her again as her inbox was still empty. Instead of going straight through to his computer voice answering service though, she had the most terrifying answer that you don't want to hear at a time like this.

"The number you have dialled has been disconnected."

She knew at that moment that she hadn't been overacting.

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**Thank you for reading, more on the way as soon as I've re-read the next chapter.**

**~ Holly**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Do I have to go over this again?" The anxious mother combed her fingers back through her hair, thinking over her description again. "He was wearing a check shirt... blue or grey, I can't remember. Jeans... shoes. I didn't really pay much attention." She grabbed for the coffee mug in front of her, gulping down the last bit. She was really trying to remember what her ex was wearing, but her mind was busy running over everything she could have done differently to prevent all of this.

"And your daughter?" The police officer asked her.

"Her hair was tied in braided pigtails with pink ties. She was wearing a pink taffeta skirt. It comes to just above her knee. And a yellow California Beach t-shirt. She had a colour block cardigan on too. It's got grey, white, purple and pink on it. Oh and white sandals, they've got little purple buckles on them." She remembered her description perfectly. "She has a birth mark on the back of her leg. Right one, just below the knee. I think it looks like a heart, but she thinks it's a strawberry."

"Sara." Captain Brass motioned her attention towards the front door.

Climbing to her feet as her team filed into the hallway of her house, Sara gave out a small sigh of relief, feeling slightly better already now that she knew her team were going to be working on this. She trusted them a whole lot more than the officers and detectives she had traipsing through her house at the moment.

Nick jumped straight in to hug her, while the Catherine and Warrick tried to find out what exactly the police were doing about this. Sara decided to report it as a kidnapping when she couldn't contact Bill after another twenty or so calls. She had now been missing for just over five hours since he first took her out, which was probably why the police weren't taking her very seriously.

"Did your ex-husband have any other bags with him?" One of the officers asked Sara, receiving a glare from the woman.

"We weren't ever married. And how am I supposed to know?" She snapped at the woman.

"I'm sorry, Miss Sidle. It's just routine questions."

"We arranged for him to take her out weeks ago. He met her a few times with me at the park, then he wanted to take her out somewhere by himself. A sort of father, daughter day after she finished school, so I let him. He was supposed to drop her back here though. He agreed that he would. I never thought he would ever do something like this though." Sara dropped back to her sofa, feeling as though she only had herself to blame for all of this. She had barely asked him any questions when they were out together, least of all where he was living now, let alone working. She knew nothing about him and she had stupidly trusted him to take her daughter out for a few hours after school.

"Okay, that's all for now, Miss Sidle."

Hearing the front door clattering, Sara cast her eyes towards the hallway, watching the neighbour's cat scurrying off into her daughter's bedroom. She left the police and her team in the front room for a moment, following in his dusty little paw prints towards the room. She knelt down beside the Tinkerbelle bed spread, spotting a tail disappearing under the dust ruffle. She smiled as the cat immediately started to knead it's paws into one of the stuffed animals that had been abandoned under the bed. She reached out for the panda that had seen better days, brushing off the dust before she hugged it close.

Hugging the bear tightly in her hands, Sara looked around at all her daughter's things, wishing she knew what to do. She had feared all along that she'd never be mother material to a child. She was even considering giving her baby up for adoption once she was born, but Tiffany was the only person she had ever really fallen in love with. She couldn't bear the thought of going on without her, but she had no idea what to do to get her back.

"Hey Sara, we're heading off to the lab to start running a search." Warrick cautiously stepped into the room, seeing the bear in the woman's hands. He leant over her, placing a soothing hand on her shoulder. "We'll get her back, Sara. We've got the whole team on it now. You know Griss is flying back from his conference to be here."

"He is?" She glanced up at him, surprised that he would really do that for her. It wasn't too long ago that he broke up with her, based on the grounds that their intimate relationship complicated their professional one. Not that they really had an intimate relationship to begin with, he had refused dinner with her more times than she could remember.

"Do you need anything before we head out?"

"No . . . thank you." She smiled at Warrick, clutching the bear again. "I'm gonna stay here for a while. Call me if you..."

"We will." Warrick promised her, returning to the team in the front room that were comparing notes with what the police had so far. They returned to the lab to start their own investigation, hoping to get Tiffany Sidle back to her mother before the end of the day, even if it killed them.

Sara stayed in her daughter's bedroom for what seemed like hours, before the cat finally crawled out from under the bed. He placed his two front paws on her leg where she was crouched, looking into her eyes as if he had been sent to comfort her. She gently stroked her hand across his head, trailing it backwards towards his tail as he walked across her leg.

"So, what's your name, Mr Cat?" She asked him, getting a curious look from the cat. She ran her fingers across his collar to try and find some ID, but there weren't any tags attached.

She suddenly felt a tingle running through her chest as she remembered something. She set the cat down, hurrying through the house to the washing machine. She had never hung up the wet clothes from earlier, so she quickly searched through them, finding the dress her daughter had been wearing earlier in the day at school. She searched the pockets of it, before she grabbed the cardigan to check them too, but they were all empty.

Sara pulled out the rest of the laundry, hearing a clatter as the object in question hit the floor. She lifted the epi-pen from the clothes, feeling goose bumps shivering up and down her spine as she had never even told Bill about her daughter's severe allergies, let alone the fact that she needed an epi-pen on her at all times.

She rushed back to her front room, grabbing her phone to call someone. If Bill had given her something that she was allergic too then he would have had to take her to the hospital. She didn't want her daughter to get sick, but this was her best bet at finding her.

"Nick, it's Sara. Tiff doesn't have an epi-pen on her, so can you do a check of the hospitals? She's allergic to all kinds of things and I never got to tell Bill, since I thought she would be home for her dinner."

Nick tried to assure her that her daughter would be fine, before he gave the heads up to Captain Brass. She thought it would put her mind at ease a little now that they knew, but she only felt worse now that she knew her daughter was without her epi-pen.

"Hi Doctor March, it's Sara Sidle." She decided to call her daughter's paediatrician, making sure that Bill hadn't ordered a spare, before she did it for herself so she had one on hand for when she came back. If he had planned this abduction down to the last detail, he might have found out about her severe allergies on his own.

Grabbing her laptop, Sara decided to start her own search. She knew the team were probably doing their very best too, but she couldn't just sit at home anymore, knowing that her daughter was out there somewhere, possibly hospitalised and wanting her mother. She needed to know more about the father of her child.

* * *

"Is Mommy meeting us here?" Tiffany climbed down from her seat on the train, rubbing the sleep from her eyes while her father collected up their bags from the floor. He ushered her off towards the exit, putting his hand on her back to speed her along a little. "I'm hungry." The six year old complained once they were on the platform. "Where are we?"

"San Francisco. I told you, we're gonna go see your Gammy." Bill caught her hand, leading her through the crowds to get to a taxi outside. He lifted her into the back first, getting another complaint of hunger as he buckled her in. He thought she might be as they had skipped dinner last night. She had some dry cereal for lunch earlier, but it was steadily approaching seven o' clock and she still hadn't had a proper meal.

Tiffany watched out the window as the cars went by in the traffic, wondering when she was going to get to see her mother. She missed her more than anything now. Her mother would never make her sleep in the back seat of a car or eat lunch out of a box on a train. If this was what father's were like, she sort of wished he had stayed away. At least then she wouldn't be starving and tired in the back of a taxi that smelled of cigarette smoke.

"Alright c'mon, let's go inside and meet your Gammy." They pulled up outside an apartment building after fifteen minutes or so, making Tiffany feel a little scared. Bill collected up the bags from the floor of the taxi, throwing some money at the driver, before he ushered his daughter out.

"What if I don't want to meet her?" She questioned her father, straightening out her skirt and cardigan.

"Well... you will and you'll like her, I promise. All her grandchildren love her." Bill slotted his wallet back into his pocket, taking his daughter's hand to cross the street. "It's four flights up, do you think you can walk?"

"That's not very many. I've climbed way more than that." She skipped towards the double doors of the apartment building, waiting for him to unlock the door, before she made her way inside. She hurried round the group of people in the entrance, scurrying straight up the stairs on all fours. She slowed down as she reached the third floor, feeling a little dizzy after the lack food.

"All tired out?" Bill smiled at her, pointing towards the number on the wall. "Just one more floor to go."

"When can I see Mommy?" Tiffany took the next few steps one step at a time, not receiving an answer again as they made their way onto the fourth floor. She made her way through the hallway, stopping beside Bill as he fished out his keys to the door. "It smells like dead flowers." She spoke her mind, plugging her nostrils with her fingers as Bill led her into the apartment. He set one of the bags from his hands on the counter, before he ushered his daughter through to the front room.

"Sit down. I gotcha some new clothes."

"I don't want new clothes. I want my Mommy."

"After this, c'mon." He caught her arm, taking her round to the sofa. "You'll like em."

Instead of sitting down, Tiffany looked through the bag he had offered to her, turning her nose up as she pulled out a pair of jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. "No, thank you. I don't like them." She handed him back the bag.

"You need some clean clothes on. You've been wearing those all night." Bill insisted, pulling her arms out of the cardigan she was wearing. "Tiffany, don't make this difficult. It's just some clean clothes."

"Only Mommy dresses me." She refused.

"I'm your Daddy though, that's means I can dress you too." Bill tried to explain to her, getting a head shake out of the six year old. "Here, you dress yourself then. I'll be here if you need me."

"But you're a boy."

"Is this her?" An old lady on a walking stick hobbled out of one of the bedrooms, smiling as she made her way towards the child. "Wow, look at you. You must look like your mother. You're too beautiful to look like this man." She teased her son, perching herself on the sofa to take a better look at her granddaughter. "Well, what's your name then missy?"

"Tiffany." She held her t-shirt in place, not wanting the man to dress her in the horrible blue one. "No, I don't like them." The six year old protested as he tried again.

"I'll get you some food if you put these on for me." Bill tried to reason with her.

"I don't give into bribery." She scowled at him, folding her arms across her chest.

"Okay... eh, how about, I put the clothes you're wearing now in the laundry and you wear these new ones while they're in there." He held them out to her, getting a groan out of her, before she started to undress herself. The blue t-shirt was way too big for her and the jeans were a few extra inches too long as well. Bill rolled them up a few times on the bottom, before her feet were visible again, but it didn't make them feel any more comfortable.

"These aren't her clothes, Bill. They're far too big for her. Didn't her mother give you some clothes to change her into?" His mother gave him a suspicious look as he stuffed the child's worn clothes into the carrier bag. "You're not going to wash those right away? How long have you got her for?"

Bill gave the woman a shrug, ushering his child through to the kitchen. He knew that Sara had probably called the police by now, since it was the morning after he was supposed to bring her back, so he'd have to make do with the food his mother had in the fridge, rather than taking her out to get some food. "Eh... do you like sandwiches?" He asked, watching Tiffany shaking her head from side to side. "Who doesn't like sandwiches? My Mom used to make peanut butter and jelly for me all the time."

"I can't eat peanut butter and jelly." Tiffany leant against the counter beside him, watching him searching through the freezer. "Why isn't my Mommy here?"

"Because... she is going to meet us later." Bill answered her, taking a look through all the things in the freezer. Besides her ice cold bottles of liquor, his mother didn't have anything that he wanted to feed his child. He knelt down beside the cupboards, finding some cans of soup.

"No." She shook her head, cringing at the sight of the cream of chicken soup tin.

"Mmm, pumpkin pie filling." He held it up to his daughter. "Have you ever had pumpkin pie? My Mom used to make it from scratch when I was a kid. Does your Mom cook much?" He guessed that she didn't as he remembered Sara telling him that she was a terrible cook. "Here we go, sloppy joe sauce." He selected one of the cans, gently moving Tiffany out of the way, so he could get to the saucepans.

Sara would have looked over the ingredients first to see if there was anything her daughter was allergic to, but he just threw it straight in. He served it between two slices of bread once it was done, handing his daughter the first plate. She turned her nose up to the sludge, before she took it over to the table. She hoisted her jeans up before she sat down, wondering what she had done wrong for her mother to subject her to this kind of torture.

She picked up the sandwich with both hands, spilling some of it down her wrist as she took her first bite. She leant closer so she wouldn't drop any, but more pooled down her chin then splattering into her lap.

"Here." Substituting a napkin for the dish towel, Bill laid it across her lap, giving her chin a wipe with his fingers. "They're meant to be messy, that's why they're called a sloppy joe." He grabbed his own from the counter, taking a seat beside her to eat with her. She managed a few more bites, before her tongue started to tingle, reminding her of the last time she was rushed into hospital.

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**Thank you for reading, please let me know what you thought.**

**~ Holly**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Her last allergic reaction was a couple of weeks ago. She had some birthday cake at one of her friends birthday parties, before I could stop her. She was at risk of going into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital." Sara explained to the police woman for the third time, giving Catherine a smile as the woman joined them in the break room. "Please tell me that you've found something."

"Yeah, we found an address for his mother. We've sent some officers round there to talk to her. We got another break through." Catherine took a seat beside her, explaining, "Nick found a motel room that Bill was renting while he was in town. Warrick and Greg are there now, but they've sent back a few pictures already. It looks like he tore out of there in a hurry, but he did leave behind this." She handed over the photocopied version of the letter they had found. "He's got another ex in New York with a little boy. From the looks of this letter, she's denying him any kind of custody or visitation rights to his son."

"So he stole my daughter?" Sara snapped, skim reading through the letter. "Have you contacted the ex?"

"Nick is on it now. We've sent police round to make sure he didn't go back to her as well. At the moment, I think the Mom is our best bet. He's been staying with her since he lost his job. She used to be a midwife before she was diagnosed with MS. Including Bill, she had five kids, so we're gonna start checking on them next, see if he went to stay with one of his brothers or sisters."

"Where does his mother live?" Sara asked, wanting to know exactly where her daughter might be. She dreaded the thought of Bill taking her across the states, especially with all the statistics running through her mind from these types of cases.

"San Francisco, we've already put a call out to the hospitals and we're circulating their pictures. We'll find her Sara. You know Tiff, she's probably talking his ears off right about now." Catherine tried to cheer her up, but she knew that she wouldn't feel better until her daughter was back in her arms. She gave the woman a quick hug, before she tried to get back to work. She usually loved her work, but today was one of those days she'd be happy to forget.

* * *

"It's my daughter." Bill ushered the paramedics up the stairs, towards his mother's apartment. He pointed them through to the kitchen, where his mother was trying to sooth the child as she threw up again. She went off her food after a while, complaining of an itchy mouth. He got her a glass of water, noticing the itchy red hives spreading across her chest. When she started to wheeze, he knew then that he had to call for an ambulance. His mother started lecturing him immediately about how he should have known or even read the packet, but he was more focused on trying to get his daughter some help.

"Oh, alright, sweetheart." The female paramedic in her mid-forties set down her bag, letting her finish throwing up, before she tried to examine her. She could already see that her lips were quite swollen, making her worry that her breathing might become compromised. "Have you given her anything else since the sandwich?" She noticed the sloppy joes on the table.

"Water." Bill answered her, anxiously watching as the male paramedic tried to listen to his daughter's chest with the stethoscope around his neck. Tiffany flinched as it touched her skin, gasping for her next breath while the paramedic listened. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Has she had anything like this in the past?" The woman asked, getting blank stares from the people around the child. "This is going to help you breathe, sweetheart. It's just oxygen." She explained as her colleague put an oxygen mask over her face. "Take some deep breaths, we just need to do a few more tests before we move you into the ambulance, okay? What's that, sweetheart?" She heard the child trying to say something, hearing the word 'pen' through her coughing. "Epi-pen? Do you carry an epi-pen with you? It's not in your pockets." She double checked all the pockets of the oversized clothes she was wearing, guessing they didn't belong to her.

Bill's mother immediately grabbed the bag of clothes he had tossed aside earlier, searching through all of the child's pockets. She shook her head in the paramedics direction, feeling even more suspicious about her son's actions, especially when she saw two police men stood in the gap of her open apartment door.

The older of the two walked straight in, looking over the paramedics shoulders at the child they were tending to. He nodded to his partner behind him, before he took a step back so they could get on with their work.

"You're very brave, sweetheart. I think her throats closing up, Jim." The female paramedic reported, watching him unpacking the things they needed. "Can you give us some room?" She got the father to step back, worrying him even more as they lay his child flat on the floor, trying to find a vein for the large needle that they were preparing. He never envisioned today ending like this. He thought he might get taken away by the police or actually make it to his brother's, but he never thought that something like this would happen.

* * *

Making his way through the halls of the lab, Grissom stopped at the break room window, taking a moment to admire the woman he adored, before he stepped inside. He didn't even have to say anything to try and comfort her, the fact that he had even come back was comfort enough to her.

She immediately climbed to her feet to hug him, closing her eyes against his neck as she breathed in his familiar comforting scent. "Is it raining?" She brushed her hand across his chest, feeling cold water drops. "I thought it wasn't supposed to rain until the morning."

"It's technically afternoon now." He pointed out the time on his watch to her. He brushed her dishevelled hair from her face, realising how exhausted she looked. He felt as though it was his fault for leaving her in the first place, but he knew that she didn't need that right now. "There's lots of commotion going on out there."

"Yeah, swing shift came back in to pick up on the night shifts cases, because days are already over run. Ecklie isn't happy. You shoulda heard Catherine yelling at him earlier. I've never heard the woman shout so loud." Sara smiled at him, returning to her seat on the sofa. She picked up the bear she hadn't let go, moving her legs to the side as Grissom took a seat beside her. "I spoke to his ex. He has a four year old son. He kidnapped him for a day when he was three then just turned up on her doorstep with the toddler as if nothing had happened. She didn't press charges, so it never went on record."

"Your daughter will be back soon too." He tried to assure her, opening his hand to her. Sara gave him a smile before she placed her hand in his, thankful for the kind gesture. "That bears seen better days."

"Yeah..." Sara looked down at the panda bear in her arms. "She used to drag it behind her when she was a toddler. He's been through the wash, thrown out the car window into moving traffic, buried in sand and thrown out to sea once. She wanted to see what would happen. The tide brought him right back to her, so she took it as a sign that he wanted to be with her and not swimming with the fishes."

Grissom smiled at her, noticing her daughter's name written on a patch of the bear. "We'll get her back, Sara. You've taught her well, she'll know something's up if he tries to take her somewhere without you." Glancing round at the window as he heard someone running, Grissom rolled his eyes as his youngest CSI came crashing through the double doors. "Greg, don't run in the halls."

"Sorry... Sara..." Greg panted, trying to catch his breath. "They found her."

"You're not joking, right?" Sara felt as though she would strangle him if this was a cruel joke, but he gave her a reassuring nod, proving her baby really had been found. She immediately hugged Grissom beside her, before she jumped to her feet, ready to travel anywhere to go and get her.

Without even packing a bag, Grissom flew with her straight over to San Francisco, trying to keep her calm as the hours ticked by while her daughter was alone in hospital.

"I know this is all my fault."

Grissom quirked an eyebrow in her direction, realising why she had stopped walking. A mother and daughter were sat in one of the airport cafes, almost a mirror image of Sara with her own daughter. "Sara... honey, you can't think like that. We're here now, we're about to see your daughter. You couldn't have known what he was going to do."

"I wanted her to have a father though. I never really had a Dad when I was at home, then when I was in foster care, I never had any parental figure. When he showed up, I thought why not. I wanted Tiff to know what it's like to have a Dad. I wanted it so much, I didn't even stop and think."

"You can spend all day going through the what ifs and the maybes. You think the people we deal with everyday don't think about all this continuously after something happens to their loved ones?" He didn't want to upset her, he just really wanted her to be able to see her daughter again. "What Tiffany needs right now is her mother." He reached out for her hand, giving her a smile as she took it. He wasn't usually the kind of person to push someone into something, but he felt like he owed it Sara after everything he had put her through in the past.

When they arrived at the hospital, she felt as though she had stepped into a nightmare. Her helpless six year old daughter was hooked up to all sorts of machines, with a large tube running directly down her swollen throat. She placed her hand over her clammy little forehead, examining her chest that was covered in bright red hives, while her eyes and lips were swollen, making her look as though she had been in a fight.

"What did he give her?" Sara looked up at the nurse that was adjusting the settings on the monitors.

"Um... I think it was a hamburger sloppy joe sauce in a sandwich."

Sara gave out a soft sigh as she knew that her daughter couldn't take wheat or anything with high fructose corn syrup. She tried to prepare all her daughter's meals herself, so she knew exactly what was going into her food and what she was taking in, but she always forgot that she had to remind everyone else. A single bite of chocolate could get her rushed into hospital and any instant ready meals could kill her in an instant. She even had an allergic reaction to her mother's lipstick after she kissed her cheek to say goodbye.

Her mother was mortified by that one as her daughter spent the next day on a drip, rather than out with her friends like most kids.

"If you think about it..." Sara spoke softly, brushing her daughter's hair from her cheek. "This is the first time that her allergies have actually been a good thing. If she didn't have them... I probably would have never found her."

"You would have. You'd never of given up." Grissom watched the woman tending to her child, realising he had never seen this side of her before. He couldn't recall a time he had ever seen this caring and nurturing side of her before. She never liked dealing with children on their cases, but now he realised it was because she was a mother herself and it was too heartbreaking for her.

He stayed by the woman's side for the next few hours, before he had to get himself something to eat as his stomach continued to grumble. He made his way to the canteen, getting some packaged sandwiches and bottles of water to take with him back to Sara. When he got back to the children's ward though, Tiffany was in her room by herself. He noticed Sara's bag still on the chair, guessing she had stepped out to use the bathroom or talk to one of the doctors.

Grissom set the food down on the tray table, taking a look at the machines bleeping beside the child's bed. A nurse came in after a few moments, setting up a new IV bag as the last one was getting a little low. "Is she alright?" He queried, getting a nod from the woman as she changed the bag.

"Yeah, she's okay. She went into anaphylactic shock in the ambulance on the way over, but she's stable now. We just need to top up her fluids and keep an eye on her for a while. The swelling has already gone down since they gave her the adrenaline. Her lips and tongue are still a little puffy though, so they've put her on the ventilator to make sure she can breathe alright." The nurse assured him, feeling the child's clammy forehead, before she noted down the child's blood pressure and things. "You can hold her hand if you want."

Grissom gave her a surprised look, taking a slight step closer to the bed. He had only ever seen pictures of Tiffany in Sara's locker. One of them was of a tiny little baby just out of the hospital, there was another of a toddler with her short blonde hair tied into little pigtails, but this little preschooler looked just like her mother. Her hair had darkened to match the colour of Sara's and her features were so similar, he could have sworn he was looking at a miniature version of the woman he adored.

"Hey." Sara returned to the room, holding the door open for the nurse, before she returned to her child's side. "Police wanted to talk to me." She explained to Grissom, seeing the look on his face. "Bill wants to see her."

"What did you tell them?"

"He has no right. I don't owe him anything." Sara combed her daughter's hair from her forehead, watching her eyelashes twitching slightly as she slept. "Do you think he deserves to see her?"

"It's completely up to you." Grissom pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the bed, watching the mother's concern as she watched her child. "You're right though, you don't owe him anything. He stole your daughter. Are you pressing charges?" He caught a faint nod from her, noticing she was a little unsure about the decision. "I can stay with you until you can take her home."

Sara responded with a smile, reaching out for the man's hand across the bed. She held his hand tightly, keeping a close eye on her baby girl. She felt exhausted after the long search for her daughter, but she still couldn't sleep even now that she was right in front of her.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it. One more chapter to go after some tweaking.**

**~ Holly**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Opposite of false." Sara read out the crossword puzzle clue, receiving a frown from the man sat beside her on the plane. They hadn't really spoken a word since they left the airport in San Francisco and she didn't exactly know what to say to thank him for staying with them for so long. She didn't know any other man that would stay with her and her child for three days in a hospital room, surrounded by sick kids, especially when he had work to do back in Las Vegas. He was supposed to resume his position as supervisor once he returned, but he hadn't complained once that she and her troubles were preventing him from doing so. "Okay, I got another one... the time when a man and woman get married. Seven down."

"Wedding." Grissom answered her, folding the newspaper into his lap as he watched Sara filling in the blank tiles with the letters. "Is she still asleep?" He motioned towards the seat by the window, barely able to see the child under the two pillows and blanket she had with her. "I didn't think kids slept on flights."

"This is one very tired child though." Sara combed her fingers through her daughter's hair, noticing her complexion was starting to return to normal. Her eyes and lips weren't so puffy and the red itchy hives had started to disappear. "She didn't get much sleep last night in the hospital, so she's probably still exhausted. I can't wait to get back to my own bed for a proper night's sleep."

"You can take a couple of days off to be with her, when we get back." Grissom suggested, getting a surprised look from her. "I know you generally don't take vacation days, but this is exceptional circumstances, Sara. You deserve a couple of days off with her."

Sara gave him a slight smile, glad he was finally acknowledging the fact that she was a mother to a child too. In the past, he had only ever given Catherine special treatment, because she had always been a mother, ever since he first met her. She thought that he still saw her as the single girl sitting home alone all night ordering take out, but this was proof that he was starting to accept that her life had changed.

Once they arrived in Las Vegas, Sara carried her sleepy child through the airport, while Grissom carried their luggage. They hadn't actually brought anything with them other than the clothes on their back, so they had to settle for hotel room toiletries and clothes from the tourist stand nearby. They looked like hapless holiday makers, but Sara was just glad to be home.

"I have to use the ladies. Stay with Grissom while he calls for a taxi, okay?" Sara sat her daughter on the chair beside the phone, making sure that he was aware she was there, before she stepped into the ladies room.

"Okay, fifteen minutes... thank you, bye." Grissom set down the phone, taking a seat beside, Tiffany. He wasn't exactly a child person, so he had no idea what to say to her to pass the time. "Are you excited to go home?"

Tiffany nodded her head, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Do you have any kids, Mr Grissom?"

"I... do not." He shook his head. "Not that I know of, anyway."

"How wouldn't you know?" She queried, frowning at the man as he took a moment to think about his answer. "Did you abandon your child when they were a baby?"

"No... it was... I don't have any children." The man assured her, realising she probably wouldn't understand. "I have a dog though, do you like dogs? His name is Hank."

"Hank sounds like a human name."

"It does." Grissom agreed with her. "But I didn't think he looked like a Fluffy when I got him. He was actually a rescue dog and the centre where I got him named him, Hank."

"What was he rescued from?" Tiffany queried, giving the man a curious look.

"I... don't know actually." He confessed, realising he never did ask. Hank was still just a puppy, so he assumed that he was just found on the street or something.

"What does he like to do?"

"Hank? Well, he likes walks, playing fetch. He has a favourite chew toy and he likes to watch television with me. He doesn't always watch it with me, but he likes to lay with me when it's on. He likes swimming too."

"Maybe he was rescued from the ocean."

"Interesting theory, but he's from here in Las Vegas. There's no ocean near here." He informed her, climbing to his feet as Sara emerged from the ladies room. He assisted her to put her jacket back on, before he lifted their luggage from the floor. "Taxi should be here in about ten minutes. You wonna wait out front?"

"Tiff doesn't have a coat." Sara pointed out to him, lifting her child off the chair.

Grissom could immediately see that she was struggling, so he opted a swap for the lighter bags. He set them on the chair, carefully taking her child off her. He knew that she was old enough to walk by herself, but she didn't have any shoes on her. "Go on, it's fine." He assured the woman, noticing she was hesitant about him carrying her.

"Okay, if you're sure." She grabbed the bags, following him towards the exit. She smiled as Grissom held her daughter securely against his side, with no signs of discomfort or awkwardness. He was more comfortable in the role of her protector than Bill ever was.

"Here we go." Grissom flagged their taxi, letting Sara get in the back first. Being careful of the child's head, he carefully lowered Tiffany into the back of the car, before he climbed in himself. He gave the driver Sara's address, surprising her again as she thought he would want to go home himself first.

"We'll be home soon." Sara assured her daughter, gently combing her fingers through her daughter's hair as the taxi left the airport. "Thank you." She whispered, looking at Grissom beside her. She knew it wasn't enough to thank him for everything he had done, but it was a start.

As soon as they arrived home, Grissom found his way to her kitchen to make them some coffee, while Sara got her daughter ready for bed. Tiffany could barely keep her eyes open as her mother dressed her in some of her own clean pyjamas, before she tucked her in under her covers. She was out like a light as soon as her head hit the pillow, but Sara stayed put for a moment, just to watch her sleeping safely in her own bed again.

"She's sleeping." Sara reported, joining the older man in the kitchen. "You told her about Hank, huh?"

"Yeah."

"She's really excited, like she's going to meet him or something." The woman chuckled, taking a seat at her dining table.

"You know... she can if she wants to. She seems alright, Sara. I've seen kids... I just mean that she doesn't seem that fazed about what went on." He tried to explain to her. "It could have been a lot worse, but she's fine."

"Yeah . . . but it's still my fault. The one person who is supposed to protect her, and I let her down. I know she wants a father and when he came along and wanted to see her, I thought why not. What harm could it do?" Turning to look at Grissom, she admitted, "I thought it would be a little easier to have the father of my child around. You wouldn't think a six year old would be so hard to deal with, but she always wants things, she's always asking questions. She needs constant supervision and I feel like I can't be a CSI and a mother at the same time. I can't bake cookies like the other mother's or braid my daughter's hair in any fancy styles, and I can't face kids on cases or balance my schedule like Catherine."

"You're comparing yourself to Catherine? Because she's not exactly the best at balancing her schedule. She's missed the last few school plays her daughter was in because she prioritised her work over something her kid was doing and she's always coming in late to work, saying she wanted to spend an extra five minutes with Lindsey in the car." Grissom pointed out to her. "My mother couldn't bake cookies. She store bought them then passed them off as her own. I found her out when I had the same cookies at a friend's house. She never bothered taking them out of the box after that. She could make everything else, but her cookies were always burnt to a crisp."

"Well I can't cook. I can order take out, put things in the microwave and stir-fry a few vegetables, but that's about it. I've been watching loads of those cookery programs to try and keep this kid nourished. I don't eat any of it, but she hasn't complained yet."

"I can cook." He reminded her, lowering his coffee mug as he looked into her eyes. "I know I was the one that suggested we distance ourselves from one another so we don't complicate..."

"You said you wouldn't start this up again." Sara stepped around him, making her way through to the front room. "I'd feel like you were only trying to make this work, because you felt sorry for me or something. I don't take pity from anybody." She took a seat on her sofa, pouring out a glass of wine instead. She poured one for Grissom as he sat down, sliding it across the glass table towards him.

"Maybe I just changed my mind while I was away from you. Or my heart changed it for me." The man suggested, watching her sipping her wine. "Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. And I've really missed you while we've been trying to stay away from each other." He caught her eyes after a few seconds, getting a slight smile from the woman. "Would you... be willing to give me another shot?"

"You're serious?" Sara smiled again, her cheeks flushing slightly as he continued to look into her eyes. "You realise I come with a package this time." She motioned towards the bedroom down the hall.

"You had her before."

"I know, but she was a toddler then. She was easier to manage because she didn't ask questions or interfere with my dating life. Not that I really had one before her." Sara smirked, letting the man she adored lift her hand from her side.

"She's a part of you, so I know I'm gonna love her too." He weaved his fingers through hers, pressing his warm palm to hers. "Isn't it better to try and fail, then to never try at all?"

"You think we're going to fail?"

"No... I never... I didn't mean it like that." He paused as he saw a sleepy little girl making her way into the room. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, climbing straight into her mother's arms. He smiled at Sara as she instinctively wrapped her arms around her child, holding her in her protective embrace. "About the package." He spoke softly. "Honestly, I wouldn't have you any other way."

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**The End... sort of**

**There it is. Originally a one shot, so I never wrote anything else to add to it. I was just sorting through all the documents I had on my computer to free up some space and decided to save this one rather than scrapping it. Thank you for your reviews and for following this story, it's very much appreciated.**

**Thank you for reading, please let me know what you thought!**

**~ Holly**


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